December 2015

It is 50 years since the closing of the Second Vatican Council and it is fitting to remember the landmark encyclical penned by Pope Paul VI, The Progress of Peoples (Populorum Progressio) two years later. Pope Paul wrote the immortal words, “Development, the new name for peace.”

HONG KONG (SE): A longing for peace, security and the freedom to be ourselves dominated messages from religious and world leaders in the run up to Christmas in 2015, with the bishop of Hong Kong, John Cardinal Tong Hon, saying in his message to the city that peace is becoming more tenuous and seems to be moving beyond the stretch of our fingers.

He spoke of challenges to what he called the core value of the family...

MANILA (UCAN): The Manila archdiocese has officially opened the process for the beatification and canonisation of Father George Willman, a Jesuit from the United States of America (US), who is credited with building up the presence of the Knights of Columbus in The Philippines during the last century.

Luis Cardinal Tagle accepted the nomination for the beatification of Father Willman during a Mass celebrated on...

HONG KONG (SE): What do migrants and elephants have in common? Well, apart from sharing December 18 as a day to draw attention to their situation, both are regarded as beasts of burden and both are threatened species, as they face constant hazards.

Both International Migrants Day and Save the Elephants Day are marked on the same date, but while the population of the elephant species has dwindled to around 35,000 to...

MANILA (UCAN): Some 300 children from the sprawling slum areas of Manila marched to the beat of Christmas carols in a reenactment of the search made by Joseph and Mary to find shelter prior to the birth of Jesus on December 18.

“We see this event in the light of the urban poor children’s search for home, peace and a decent life,” Tina Jurado, a community organiser with the Urban Poor Associates,...

BERLIN (Agencies): Pope Francis has been named the 2016 recipient of the International Charlemagne Prize for bringing a message of hope and encouragement to Europe at a time of uncertainty, The Associated Press reported.

The Charlemagne Prize has been awarded annually since 1950 by donors in Aachen, Germany, and is given for distinguished...

VATICAN (SE): “Let us open our hearts to receive the grace of this day, which is Christ himself,” Pope Francis said in the traditional Urbi et Orbi (To the City and the World) papal Christmas blessing, delivered from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome at midday on Christmas Day.

FLORENCE (SE): Pope Francis received a meal coupon and a plastic plate from the staff at the Caritas St. Francis Soup Kitchen in Florence, Italy, as he left the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore after speaking to 2,500 delegates at a gathering sponsored by the Italian Bishops’ Conference on what he called practical Christian humanism on November 10 last year.